Negotiations Status

After more than eleven years of negotiations, we are now in the final stretch towards achieving the transfer of responsibility for public land and resource management in the Northwest Territories (NWT) from the federal to the territorial government. The devolution of these responsibilities and authorities will provide significant benefits to all NWT residents, businesses and governments.

Negotiations concluded in March of 2013. The proposed Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement was then shared with the public and Aboriginal governments over several months. A What We Heard report capturing key questions and comments from these public meetings was then shared with all members of the GNWT Legislative Assembly.

On June 5, 2013, the Assembly voted 17-1 to approve the agreement, and on June 25, 2013 all participating governments signed the agreement in a public ceremony in Inuvik, NWT. The target date for the transfer of responsibilities is April 1, 2014.